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FIRST ON FOX: House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and more than two dozen of her colleagues are supporting a resolution to “expunge” former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment – as pro-Trump Republicans push to rally voters ahead of the midterms.
Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., is leading the resolution, which would apply to Trump’s 2021 impeachment in the wake of the attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters. It’s similar to a previous resolution Mullin introduced on Trump’s first impeachment, which concerned him allegedly withholding military aid from Ukraine in exchange for political favors.
The Daily Beast first reported on the existence of the more recent resolution. But the support for it by Stefanik and other Republicans, including House GOP Conference Vice Chair Mike Johnson, R-La., was not revealed until Wednesday. And although it will not pass the Democrat-controlled House, it underscores Republicans’ continued support for Trump nearly 16 months after he left office.
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“Democrats used their second impeachment resolution to once again weaponize one of the most grave and consequential powers of the House,” Mullin said in a statement. “This was never about the Constitution; it was rooted in personal politics.”
Rep. Markwayne Mullin speaks during a news conference outside the Capitol on Sept, 16, 2020,
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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“The American people know Democrats weaponized the power of impeachment against President Donald Trump to advance their own extreme political agenda,” Stefanik, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital.
“From the beginning of this sham process, I stood up against Nancy Pelosi’s blatant attempt to shred the Constitution as House Democrats ignored precedent and failed to follow the legislative process,” Stefanik continued. “But President Donald Trump was rightfully acquitted, and it is past time to expunge Democrats’ sham smear against not only President Trump’s name, but against millions of patriots across the country.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik speaks during a news conference outside the Capitol on Thursday, May 12, 2022.
(Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Mullin’s resolution rehashes many grievances Trump and other Republicans have about the 2020 election, including on recounts and mail ballots.
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It also rails against the articles of impeachment themselves. One line argues that “Article I of the Resolution cites two quotes from President Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech on the Ellipse that lack any context, and are viewed in a light most unfavorable to the President.” The resolution also makes process complaints about the lack of an “evidentiary hearing,” and that “no witnesses were heard.”
The resolution stands almost no change of advancing in the Democrat-controlled House. But if passed, the resolution says it would make it as if the impeachment article “had never passed the House of Representatives.”
Supporters of President Donald Trump scale the west wall of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
“Liberals couldn’t see through their blind rage long enough to follow parliamentary procedure, and instead barreled through Congress in order to have one more bite at the apple with President Trump,” said Mullin, who helped barricade rioters outside the House chamber during the Jan. 6 attack.
The resolution has 28 cosponsors, including Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Brian Mast, R-Fla., and Jody Hice, R-Ga. Hice is running for secretary of state in Georgia.
Mullin is also running for higher office. He announced earlier this year that he’s seeking to replace retiring Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., in an upcoming special election. He faces a crowded GOP primary later this spring.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters from The Ellipse near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
(Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images))
Supporting the resolution could help Hice, Mullin and their fellow Republicans polish their pro-Trump bona-fides ahead of the midterms. Stefanik, the third-ranking Republican in the House, has been doing the same. She recently declared, “I am ultra-MAGA, and proud of it,” in response to a new label from President Biden for pro-Trump Republicans.
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Trump’s grip on the GOP was further illustrated Tuesday night when Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, a strong supporter of Trump’s repeated attempts the past year and a half to re-litigate his 2020 election loss, won his primary. Mastriano was in D.C. on Jan. 6, though there was no evidence he entered the Capitol or was part of the rioters Mullin assisted in holding at bay.
The Jan. 6 attack followed months of Trump falsely claiming that the 2020 election was stolen, before he called a rally near the White House on the day Congress was set to ratify the Electoral College results.
At that rally, Trump told supporters, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
